A tasting spoon is an essential kitchen tool, allowing you to add flavor experiments directly to the “taste” to see if you like them. Over the years I've collected —and given — quite a few tasting spoons. They make great, unexpected gifts. Here's a roundup:]]>http://www.improvisedlife.com/2016/12/01/tasting-spoons-essential-kitchen-tool-and-welcome-gift/feed/058869Gifts for Eaters and Cooks via Sally and The Splendid Tablehttp://www.improvisedlife.com/2016/11/27/gifts-eaters-cooks-via-sally-splendid-table/
http://www.improvisedlife.com/2016/11/27/gifts-eaters-cooks-via-sally-splendid-table/#commentsSun, 27 Nov 2016 23:31:52 +0000http://www.improvisedlife.com/?p=58771

Sally Schneider

Wondering what to give cooks and eaters on your list over the holidays? Check out my interview with Melissa Clark on the great Splendid Table, airing around the country this week. To read more about the swell time-tested finds — both bought and made yourself —, follow these links.]]>http://www.improvisedlife.com/2016/11/27/gifts-eaters-cooks-via-sally-splendid-table/feed/258771Survivalist’s Essential Tool (and Gift): Treeshttp://www.improvisedlife.com/2016/08/24/survivalists-essential-tool-and-gift-trees/
http://www.improvisedlife.com/2016/08/24/survivalists-essential-tool-and-gift-trees/#respondWed, 24 Aug 2016 06:09:09 +0000http://www.improvisedlife.com/?p=56746

Sally Schneider

In this astonishing simulation, Nasa tracks the flow of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide across the planet over the course of a year and shows just how much trees clean the air. It increased our awareness of how essential trees are, beyond their beauty, shade and energy. And what we can easily do to increase earth's tree population.]]>http://www.improvisedlife.com/2016/08/24/survivalists-essential-tool-and-gift-trees/feed/056746Favorite Kitchen Tool: French-Style Universal Pot Lidhttp://www.improvisedlife.com/2016/06/08/favorite-kitchen-tool-french-style-universal-pot-lid/
http://www.improvisedlife.com/2016/06/08/favorite-kitchen-tool-french-style-universal-pot-lid/#respondWed, 08 Jun 2016 06:42:59 +0000http://www.improvisedlife.com/?p=56242

Sally Schneider

On my first trip to France when I was in my twenties, I bought a classic French pot lid in a flea market. Ten inches in diameter, it is a tin-lined copper disk with a cast iron handle. It reminded me of the French cooking heritage I loved. Little did I know that it would become one of my most-used kitchen tools. Or that the copper lids would become really expensive. On the hunt to find an alternative, I finally found a new iteration that, while not as perfect as the original, is affordable and incredibly useful. (more…)

When we heard brilliant chef and cookbook author James Peterson had launched a line of perfumes, we went looking for samples to experience what our old friend found so compelling. We spent several illuminating hours exploring the website of Twisted Lily, a fragrance boutique in Brooklyn that features over 100 artisanal perfumers, including Jim. There you can buy $4 sample sizes of most of their 600+ offerings, an exciting, affordable way to learn about the vast world of fragrances.

An unexpected Sunday Amazon delivery yielded one of the most beautiful and transformative books we’ve seen in a long time. Knowing our passion for trees —an ongoing theme on Improvised Life — Cara De Silva made us a gift of Ancient Trees: Portraits in Time, 60 astonishing images photographer Beth Moon made during fourteen years traveling the world. She describes her work as “Portraits of Change. Portraits of Survival. Portraits of Time.” (more…)

(Video link here.) Friday is the day we usually publish a recipe, hoping that it will prove a delicious weekend activity for our readers. While we recommend your checking out the menu and recipe links for the birthday dinner we’ll be cooking for a friend (at bottom), we can think of no better Spring activity than making mud dumplings and other seasonal, outdoor creations, both real and imaginary. To get you going, here are two big hunks of inspiration… (more…)

Casting about for an instant gift to give? Give your brilliant someone a subscription to Improvised Life, a month or year of inventive, mind-shifting tools and ideas for creative possibility-thinking, from home design and cooking to productivity and self-expression: our whole archive’s worth. Gifting is easy…]]>http://www.improvisedlife.com/2015/12/23/need-last-minute-gift-give-improvised-life/feed/053894A Cook’s Favorite Gifts for Cooks of all Stripeshttp://www.improvisedlife.com/2015/12/21/a-cooks-favorite-gifts-for-cooks-of-all-stripes/
http://www.improvisedlife.com/2015/12/21/a-cooks-favorite-gifts-for-cooks-of-all-stripes/#commentsMon, 21 Dec 2015 18:25:55 +0000http://www.improvisedlife.com/?p=53846

Every so often, a friend calls to ask me what cooking equipment to recommend. LONG story! You’ll find an extensive list of equipment for a basic kitchen in A New Way to Cook, along with 700+ pages of essential techniques and recipes.

For now, here are my tried-and-true favorites, from high to low and back. (more…)

The other day at Opening Ceremony, we came across some spectacular earrings: little fur pom poms dangling from thin gold wires. WANT, we thought. And then, MAKE. That’s usually our second thought, which starts us researching materials and processes so we can decide whether to follow though or file the idea for future use. We discovered that pom poms, both fur and fake, can be easily bought and hold huge possibilities.

(Video link here.) So, er, yes, well, er, we DO have a regifting drawer as well as a gift drawer of stuff we’ve bought because we think it’s universally great. Truth be told, the stuff in the regifting drawer tends to languish, we suspect because it can take a while before we find someone for whom the outlier gift is really appropriate.

Over many years of cooking professionally, amidst sharp knives and fire, I learned that an accidental cut or burn was in fact a signal: a message from myself to myself that I was distracted. I needed to listen deeply to what was going on, or at the very least, slow down and take care.

I got that message yet again when I recently nicked myself cutting a cabbage and ran to my medicine cabinet to patch the wound. Yeah, there IS a lot going on… …. including MANY cool possibilities in the realm of band-aid! (more…)

Recently in a secondhand bookstore, a jazzy little book jumped into my hand. I was drawn to it by its beautiful cover design which read “Dickinson”, meaning Emily. Finding the book, and the first poem I turned to, proved to be a lovely bit of bibliomancy. (more…)